The Third Rome of St. Nicholas

The author of the route "The Third Rome of St. Nicholas" is Miguel Palacio, head of the Association of Specialists in the Field of Cultural Routes "Holy Places of Undivided Christianity", advisor to the Director General of the All-Russian State Library for Foreign Literature Rudomino on international humanitarian projects.

St Nicholas - the conqueror of peoples

It is difficult to find in the Christian world another saint revred as much as Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker. And not only in the Christian world. Images of St. Nicholas are found in the tents and yarangas of the northern pagan peoples (indigenous Siberians called the saint "a good old man" and claimed that he helps them).

A number of Buddhist peoples worship the saint in their own way: Kalmyks call him Mikola-Burkhan, consider him the patron saint of the Caspian Sea and helper of fishermen; for the Buryats, he is the White Elder - the spirit of prosperity and longevity; Mongol-Buryats call him "Sagan-Ubukgun" (in Russian - Father Mihola). Muslim Turks have the deepest respect for Saint Nicholas and anxiously preserve the dungeon in which he was once imprisoned. There is even evidence that the Turks kept the icons of Nicholas the Wonderworker on their galleys, since he repeatedly saved them from the dangers of sea voyages.

Agreement between the Pope and the Patriarch

The exact date of the assumption of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker is unknown (sources indicate 345-351 years). His incorruptible relics at first rested in the cathedral church of the city of Myra of Lycia, where he served as archbishop. They were myrrh-streaming, and the world healed believers from various ailments.

In 1087 one part of the relics of the Saint was transported to the city of Bari in Italy, to the church of St. Stephen. A few years later, the rest of the relics came to Venice. The question of the authenticity of the relics of St. Nicholas, which stirred the minds of skeptics for almost nine centuries, was solved by the professor of anatomy of the University of Bari Luigi Martino. He explored the relics of Bari in 1953 and the relic of Venice in 1992. The conclusion of the professor and the commission he created confirmed, that the bones in Venice complemented the remains resting in Bari. The myrrh-washing of relics was also scientifically confirmed.

Nowadays presumably 65% of the relics are located in Bari, about 20% rest in Venice; the rest of the relics are spread throughout the world.

Russian people began to read Nicholas the Wonderworker shortly after the Baptism of Rus’ by Prince Vladimir in 988. By the middle of the XI century, the first icons of the saint appear, for example, his image is found on the frescoes of St. Sophia in Kiev. In many Russian cities, the main cathedrals were called by the name of the archbishop of the World of Lyca.

On May 21, 2017, relics of St. Nicholas were brought to Russia from the Italian city of Bari. This was made possible thanks to the agreement reached during the historic meeting of Pope Francis and Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill in Cuba on February 12, 2016. The shrine was in Moscow and St. Petersburg for 52 days; during this time, 1.3 million people from different regions of Russia and other countries managed to worship her.

However, not many people know that not only a great number of icons of St. Nicholas are kept, but also particles of his relics in more than 20 churches and monasteries in Moscow and the Moscow region. The spiritual and cultural tourist route “The Third Rome of St. Nicholas”, which was offered to your attention, includes some of these many holy sites.

Holy places

Stop oneChernihiv Patriarchal Courtyard

We will begin our journey through the Nikolsky places of Moscow and its environs in the heart of the city – in Chernihiv Patriarchal Courtyard, which include в состав которого входят the church of the Beheading of John the Baptist under Bor and the church of the holy martyrs Michael and Theodore of Chernigov. This ancient complex is located in Chernigov Lane, connecting the Bolshaya Ordynka and Pyatnitskaya streets.

In the 11th century, the St. John the Baptist Monastery (St. John the Baptist Monastery), the first Zarechye monastery (now Zamoskvorechye), was located on the courtyard of the monastery. Here for a long time they prayed for the prosperous birth of the heir to the Moscow throne.

In 1578 (or 1582), Tsar Ivan the Terrible, Metropolitan of Moscow, boyars and ordinary people were solemnly greeted by the relics of Prince Michael and Boyar Theodore brought from Chernigov, who in the XIII century martyred in the Golden Horde, refused to worship the pagan gods.

In 2010, the courtyard was handed over to the use of the Church-wide postgraduate and doctoral studies named after Saints Cyril and Methodius. At the same time, a comprehensive restoration began, which has not yet been completed. However, today Chernihiv Courtyard has returned its status of decoration and business card of Zamoskvorechye District.

The right aisle of St. John the Baptist Church was consecrated in honor of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.

St. Nicholas of Myra

On June 8, 2008, with the blessing of Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II, a part of the relics of St. Nicholas of Myra in Moscow was donated to the Church of the Beheading of John the Baptist under Bor. The ark was made by the monastery for storing the relics of the “victor of nations”.

Stop twoThe temple-museum of St. Nicholas in Tolmachy at the Tretyakov Gallery

The first mention of the Church of St. Nicholas in Tolmachy is contained in the Patriarchal Parish. In 1697, the merchants Dobryniny erected a brick church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit with a warm single-bed refectory in honor of St. Nicholas on the site of a wooden church.

An important milestone in the history of the temple was the move to Lavrushinsky Lane of the Tretyakov family in 1851, which provided great support to the temple. At the end of the 19th century, Theodore Soloviev served as a deacon in the church; later, the elder of the Zosima Desert and Alexy Alexis, in 2000, was canonized.

In the XX century, the church was closed, all five chapters and three of the four tiers of the bell tower were destroyed, the icons were transferred to the Tretyakov Gallery.

At the moment, in the liturgical time, the temple is open to all believers, while at other times it acts as a hall of the Tretyakov Gallery.

The relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker

By decision of the gallery's management, the ark with the relics of more than 30 saints, including St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, was moved to the temple-museum of St. Nicholas in Tolmachchi.

The precious ark of the 18th century was previously stored in the storerooms of the museum.

Stop threeDanilov Stauropegic Monastery

The Danilov Monastery is the most ancient monastic abode of Moscow, founded in 1282 by the Holy Prince Daniel of Moscow, the youngest son of Prince Alexander Nevsky. The term “stauropegial” means that the monastery is not subject to the local church authorities, but is personally accountable to the Patriarch. In 1330, Ivan I Danilovich Kalita transferred the monastery brotherhood to the Kremlin. The monastery, which exists now, was founded or renewed by Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible in 1560 (probably on the site of the former monastery necropolis). Since that time, the monastery was rebuilt several times.

In the XIX-XX centuries, one of the most ancient Moscow cemeteries was located on the territory of the monastery, where the hierarchs of the Church and Russian cultural figures rested (including a famous Russian writer Nicholai Gogol and a great painter Vasily Perov).

After closing in 1931 and up to 1983, a colony for juvenile delinquents was housed in the monastery. In May 1983, the monastery was returned to the Church.

Nowadays, the Patriarchal and Synodal residence and the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate are located on the territory of the monastery.

The relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker

A particle of the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was presented to the monastery in 1991.

The Ark is located in the aisle of the Holy Prince Daniel of the Moscow Church of the Holy Fathers of the Seven Ecumenical Councils.

Stop fourIvanovsky Convent

Ivanovsky Convent is located in the very center of Moscow, close to the Kremlin. This area is often called the White City, and it received its other name just from the monastery named “Ivanovskaya Gora”.

The monastery was the royal pilgrimage and served for many princely families as ancestral monastery, where they made contributions. The monastic ensemble was finally formed by the end of the XVII century.

In the Soviet times Ivanovsky Convent happened to be one of the first closed in Moscow. The concentration camp was located on the territory of the monastery, the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist was transferred to the provincial archives, and the Church of Elizabeth was moved to the Ivanovo correctional club.

A special role in the restoration of the monastery is assigned to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.

On May 5, 1999, the Patriarchal Compound was established at the former St. John Monastery by the decree of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II.

On January 8, 2002, its main shrines were returned to the monastery: the unique icon of St. John the Baptist with a hoop and the image of St. Elizabeth the Wonderworker.

The relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker

The particle of the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, the Archbishop of Mirlikiya, was donated to the monastery on April 5, 2003 by the Archbishop Arseny of Istra after performing the first monastic vest in a restored monastery. This shrine was kept in the family of one Italian believer, belonging to an ancient noble family. Knowing about the veneration of St. Nicholas in Russia, she decided to donate a family relic to the newly-opened St. John the Baptist Monastery.

Stop fiveChurch of All Saints na Kulichkakh

The Church of All Saints on Kulishki was built in memory of the Orthodox soldiers who fell in the Battle on Kulikovo Field (near Kolomna). The church got its name because many thousands of warriors fell in battle, and there was no opportunity to remember everyone. Nikolsky aisle appeared in the church in 1662.

In Soviet times, the church did not escape the fate of many churches: in 1931 it was closed, and worship was not performed there until 1991. The destruction of the church was avoided only due to the fact that it was directly connected with the historical event - the Battle of Kulikovo.

In 1999, the church received the status of the monastery of the Alexandrian Orthodox Church in Moscow (nourishing all African orthodox).

The Church of All Saints na Kulichkakh

Nowadays the Church of All Saints na Kulichkakh has two shrines, brought at one time from the Kykk monastery (Cyprus) by the current head of the church, Metropolitan of Kirin Athanasius. These are two reliquaries: a large one contains particles of the relics of 12 ancient saints; a small round-shaped ark, topped with a high lid with a cross, has a particle of the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. This ark is taken out for worship after the end of the Divine Liturgy every Thursday and dwells in the temple until 8 p.m.

Stop sixSretensky Stauropegial Monastery

Sretensky Monastery was founded at the end of the XIV century (presumably in 1395 or 1397) at the behest of Grand Duke Vasily Dimitrievich, son of Dimitri Donskoy.

By the beginning of the 18th century, a whole complex of monastic buildings had developed at Bolshaya Lubyanka (it was largely destroyed in 1928), which included the church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.

At the end of 1925 the monastery was closed, the structures of the The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs were located in its buildings. Executions were carried out on the territory of the monastery. Nowadays the monastery has been recreated and rebuilt.

Now there are the Sretensky Theological Seminary, the largest Orthodox publishing house, a shop, the editors of one of the most visited Christian Internet sites, Orthodoxy.ru, the Patriarchal Council for Culture, and other institutions on the territory of the monastery.

The relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker

The reliquary with a particle of relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was transferred to the Sretensky Monastery on March 4, 2014.

Stop sevenNovodevichy Convent

Novodevichy Convent, or Bogoroditse-Smolensky Monastery, was founded in 1524 by Vasili III of Russia on the Maiden's Field (Samsong meadow).

And the new monastery was dedicated to the Most Holy Mother of God Odigitria (Greek: “Guide”, “Mentor”) - to the ancient image of Our Lady from Constantinopol Temple Odigon.

In the Soviet years, the monastery was closed, the nuns were dispersed, the "seizure of values" was carried out. The Museum of the Era of Sophia Alekseyevna and the Moscow Uprisings, later renamed the Woman's Emancipation Museum, was in the monastery buildings. In 1934 the monastery premises were transferred to the State Historical Museum. Only in 1994 the monastery again became working.

In 2004, the architectural ensemble of Novodevichy Convent was included in the list of UNESCO World Cultural Heritage sites.

There are the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God (mid-17th century), the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God (mid-17th century), an ancient image of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker with particle relics among the revered shrines of Novodevichy Convent.

The relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker

The icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker with a particle of relics is located in the Assumption Cathedral.

Stop eightThe Epiphany Cathedral at Yelokhovo

Earlier there was a wooden church in honor of the Vladimir Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos on the site of the current cathedral; according to the legend, St. Basil the Blessed, the Moscow wonderworker, was born on the porch of this church in 1468. The Church of the Epiphany in the village of Elokhovo was first mentioned in the decree of Patriarch Adrian of 1694. The name of Alexander Pushkin is connected with the Epiphany Cathedral: here on June 8, 1799, the future great poet was baptized.

From 1932 to 1991, the temple had the status of the Patriarchal Cathedral.

In 1988, the transfer of the shrines stored in the State Museums of the Moscow Kremlin to the cathedral took place: particles of the Tree of the Life-giving Cross of the Lord, a stone from the Holy Sepulcher, particles of the robe of the Most Holy Theotokos, the right hand of the Apostle Andrew the First Called, the heads of St. John Chrysostom and the relics of other saints, including St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.

Patriarchs Sergius and Alexy II are buried in the cathedral.

The relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker

A metal crayfish with a particle of the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker (among other shrines) resides near the north wall of the cathedral.

Stop nineThe Church of St. Nicholas of Myra in Kotelniki

The Church of St. Nicholas in Kotelniki is located on the banks of the Moscow River at the foot of the south-western slope of the large Tagansky Hill, the so-called Shviva Hill.

The first mentions of the wooden church, located on the site of the modern St. Nicholas Church, date back to 1547. In 1657, the Stroganov merchants and industrialists, who lived nearby, rebuilt a wooden church into a stone Nikolsky temple.

Today there are three especially revered shrines in St. Nicholas Church in Kotelniki: particles of the relics of the holy martyrs Lyudmila and Vyacheslav Cheshky (there are no more relics of these two saints in Moscow) and St. Nicholas, wonderworker.

The relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker

Part of the relics of St. Nicholas was donated to the church by Archbishop Mikhalovsko-Košitsky George.

Stop tenNikolo-Perervinsky Monastery

According to an ancient legend, the Nikolo-Perervinsky Monastery was founded during the time of the Kulikovo battle in an area called "Pererva". The Moscow River here changed the direction of the channel, as if interrupting it, and turned right to the Kolomna village, located on the other side, opposite the Nikolo-Perervinsky monastery.

The prime of the monastery falls on the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich. In 1649 the stone church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was built with a bell tower. In 1669, the monastery received the second list of the Iberian Icon of the Mother of God brought from Athos, which became one of the most revered Russian shrines.

In the Soviet years, the monastery did not work, the Iberian chapel was demolished.

The return of the monastery of the Russian Orthodox Church began in 1991, when the St. Nicholas Cathedral Church was handed over for unlimited use. In 1995, the Patriarchal Courtyard of the Churches of the St. Nicholas Perervinsky Monastery was founded by decree of Patriarch Alexy II.

Restoration work is still underway in the monastery. In 1996, the spiritual school was revived.

The main shrine of the monastery is the Iberian Icon of the Mother of God, it has been lost. However, a miraculous list of this image was brought from Athos here.

In 1991, the Icon of the Mother of God “Our Lady Derzhavnaya” was brought to the monastery, which is now one of the main shrines of the monastery. A little later, the monastery received the Patriarch's gift - the ancient image of the Mother of God “Bogolyubskaya”.

The relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker

On February 17, 2014, with the efforts and means of two benefactors, a portion of the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker arrived in the St. Nicholas of Perervinsky Monastery from Jerusalem.

Stop elevenNikolo-Ugreshsky Stauropegic Monastery

Nikolo-Ugreshsky Monastery was founded in 1380 by Dmitry Donskoy: “Blessed Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoy came out of the city of Moscow against the unholy Mamai, ... moving fifteen miles from Moscow ... established tents ... for rest. And in this place the most wonderful image of Nicholas the Wonderworker appeared to him, ... standing by himself in the air above the tree ... The Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich, who was praying to him, descended from the height of this holy icon and was given into his honest hands. The name of Ugresh comes from the phrase of the faithful prince “This has all warmed my heart”.

The names of two great Russian saints - Saints Philaret (Drozdov) and Ignatius (Brianchaninov) are associated with this abode.

The main holy thing of the monastery is the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker of the XIV century, it was transferred to the church of the village of Kolomna in 1919, from where it was deposited at the State Restoration Workshops, and in 1934 it was in the funds of the Tretyakov Gallery. Now it is restored and is in the storerooms of the museum.

In 1991, the monastery received the status of Stauropegic.

The relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker

Part of the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was transferred to the St. Nicholas-Ugreshsky Monastery on May 22, 2000 from the Monastery of St. John the Baptist on the Greek island of Pelopones, where a part of the hand of the saint was held by the bishop Diavliysky Damaskin (Greek Orthodox Church from the 11th century.